Cosmonaut Couture: Russian Photo Shoot Makes Space Sexy

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Cosmonaut Couture: Russian Photo Shoot Makes Space Sexy

Photos like this could pass for a Cold War-era Russian propaganda program, or perhaps shots straight from the set of the movie Moonraker — if not for a stray pair of late-20th century sneakers.
Arthur Elgort. (Image: Toby Shaw)
Renowned fashion photographer Arthur Elgort, now 72, actually created these images for the December 1999 issue of Russian Vogue. (The magazine is owned by Conde Nast, which also owns Wired.)
In the images, supermodel Natalia Semanova mingles with real-life cosmonauts at Star City, a town northeast of Moscow and home of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where for more than 50 years the Russian Federal Space Agency has trained willing citizens to fly in space. (Recently they’ve also been trained to survive 520 days inside a tin can.)
The photos experienced a recent resurgence in social media circles, so Wired tracked down Elgort to learn more about the timeless photos.
Wired: What led you to merge the worlds of fashion, science and technology for this shoot?
Arthur Elgort: I find it more interesting to put fashion in a setting that is different. Anywhere that the story can be about places that enhance the clothes.

Wired: How did you convince the Russian government to let you do the shoot at Star City?
Elgort: The editor was a very pretty girl and pretty girls get what they want. I don’t remember any security or anything, we just walked right in. It was all there for us to shoot. They allowed us access to everything. I think they must have looked into who we were and realized we were harmless.

Wired: What was the inspiration behind staging the shoot at an actual space training center?
Elgort: It was actually the editor from Russian Vogue, whose name I can’t recall at the moment, who wanted to shoot at the space center. I liked that the shoot was more than just the fashion, and I was the one who said we must use a Russian model to make it more authentic and so that she would fit in. [Natalia Semanova] was very good at chatting up the cosmonauts.

Wired: So they’re all real cosmonauts? What did they think of this experience at the time?
Elgort: Yes, they are real cosmonauts. Unfortunately, they were all speaking with the model in Russian so I didn’t catch much of what was said. They did seem very happy to be a part of what we were doing, though. I think that maybe the Russian space program was pretty quiet at the time.

Wired: The photos suggest you’re a huge fan of science and technology. Is that true?
Elgort: No, I’m not a huge fan of technology because I don’t know much about it. Even with my cameras I do use the newest ones, but I often prefer the old-fashioned ones like my Rolleiflex and Leica. This was a fun job but I’m more a fan of people and the cosmonauts were all very friendly.

Wired: Of all of the photos, which would you say is your favorite?
Elgort: The picture in the space ship, because her clothes look like she could be an astronaut. Her clothes match his. And all of the cosmonaut uniforms are very fashionable. I’ve always liked all types of uniforms.

Wired: Would you say this shoot was a favorite of yours?
Elgort: The food there was terrible. But I guess that isn’t that surprising. Government-issued food is never great, is it?